The present invention relates to apparatus and methods for displaying biologically induced electrical activity. More particularly, the present invention is directed to automated, user-friendly systems for generating video displays representing the electrical activity induced by neurons in the brain.
It is known to those of skill in the art that specific combinations of sources within a living body, such as the brain, will generate at any given instant, a unique distribution of electrical potentials or magnetic fields. In the case of the brain, electrical activity generated by neurons within the brain can be measured at the surface of the scalp in the form of electric potentials or magnetic fields. These potentials or fields, in turn, can be used to determine a resultant source or current dipole, frequently called simply a "dipole".
In recent years, there has been increasing interest in the study of dipoles to assist in the diagnosis and treatment of neurological disorders. However, the methodology employed to determine the location, orientation and magnitude of any one or more dipoles at a given instant in time is mathematically complex and relatively time consuming. Moreover, known display techniques have proven less than satisfactory for the efficient and effective study of dipoles in the clinical environment. As a result, the clinical use of dipole analysis in the examination of neurological disorders is minimal, if not non-existent, at the present time.